Institution
Okanagan University College
Recent research
- Climate & EnvironmentOpen access
Evolution of the axial skeleton of early dinosaurs and the role of meristic and homeotic processes
Abstract Changes in the axial skeleton played an important role in dinosaur evolution, with some of the oldest dinosaurs showing evidence of sacralization events. The increased number of early dinosaur discoveries over the last decade provides an opportunity to better characteriz...
- BiologyOpen access
Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer is a commercially important medicinal crop valued for its bioactive secondary metabolites. Adventitious root (AR) culture provides a scalable and controllable platform for compound production, but the metabolic basis of variation among ginseng AR lines re...
- AI & ComputingOpen access
Abstract Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown high capabilities in several software development-related tasks such as program repair, documentation, code refactoring, debugging, and testing. However, training these models requires massive amount of data and significant computa...
- Physics & SpaceOpen access
Mechanical Signatures of Nucleic Acid Trefoil Knot Topology
ABSTRACT Molecular knots represent a fundamental form of polymer topology, yet their mechanical behavior in nucleic acids remains largely unexplored. Here, we engineer a single‐stranded DNA sequence that can fold into either a knot or a pseudoknot while maintaining identical base...
- Physics & SpaceOpen access
Mechanical Signatures of Nucleic Acid Trefoil Knot Topology
Molecular knots represent a fundamental form of polymer topology, yet their mechanical behavior in nucleic acids remains largely unexplored. Here, we engineer a single-stranded DNA sequence that can fold into either a knot or a pseudoknot while maintaining identical base-pairing...
- Society & EconomicsOpen access
Letting go and writing past shame
Abstract In an age of LLM‐powered AI, skipping past the painful feelings writing can engender is more tempting than ever before. But painful emotions are both meaningful and valuable for the writing process. Accordingly, I offer concrete strategies for writing with and past shame...
- Climate & EnvironmentOpen access
Kelp forests are declining in many parts of the world due to climate change and other stressors. Restoration is one solution to return kelp forests to places where they have been lost, yet continually warming oceans may necessitate the identification of thermally tolerant strains...
- Biology
Abstract Sialic acid (Neu5Ac) is a monosaccharide terminating glycoconjugates, serving as ligands for lectins in health and disease. Tools to target sialyltransferases (STs) and neuraminidases (NEUs) are important in the study of sialoglycans. 3FaxNeu5Ac is a common ST inhibitor,...
- Society & EconomicsOpen access
Hunting is an important activity for many BC residents, providing both food and recreational pleasures. It also serves to transfer funds from the more populous to the less populous regions of the province. Many of the most sought game species in BC are in decline, with an increas...
- Physics & Space
Abstract Can physical reality be fully captured by an algorithmic Theory of Everything? We argue not. Gödelian incompleteness shows that no sound, recursively axiomatizable formalism proves all truths of a sufficiently rich domain, while Tarskian undefinability shows that no such...
- Climate & Environment
Chloritization of biotite by fluids is common in low-temperature tectonic regimes. Using three metapelites from the Tatric Superunit in the Western Carpathians (northern Slovakia), we demonstrated that in situ Rb/Sr geochronology of partially chloritized biotite can be used to da...
- Climate & EnvironmentOpen access
Breathing Images: Representing Smoke in the Era of Record Wildfires
This article examines wildfire smoke as a critical yet disproportionately represented subject within ecocritical photography, arguing that its diffuse, persistent, and atmospheric qualities challenge dominant modes of landscape representation and environmental imagery. While phot...
- Health & Medicine
Virtual Health Interventions to Improve Breastfeeding: A Systematic Review
CONTEXT Use of virtual health interventions has increased rapidly, with growing evidence evaluating virtual breastfeeding support. However, the effectiveness of different types of virtual breastfeeding interventions remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of various typ...
- Health & MedicineOpen access
Abstract Background Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep are three behaviours which occupy the 24-h cycle and interact to influence a multitude of health outcomes. Different terms are currently used to describe these behaviours collectively (e.g., movement behaviours...